The Italian Job (2003)

"I liked him, right up until the moment I shot him."
Well done! Now THIS is what I call a popcorn movie. No big drama, no great life issues; just a fun plot, great action, and good looking people packing the screen. "The Italian Job", a remake of the 1969 Michael Caine flick, is cinema escapism at its best and a great bet for a Friday night date.

Mark Wahlberg stars as Charlie, acting head of a gang of high-tech, high class thieves. He's taking over for his mentor (played by the always welcome Donald Sutherland) as his team sets up a brilliant scheme for $35,000,000 in gold bars (the "Italian Job" of the title).
But things don't go quite as planned, and one year later Charlie reassembles his mates, plus his mentor's daughter (Charlize Theron) to take revenge on the man who betrayed them and set things right once and for all.

The action here is splendid, imaginative and well filmed. The script is tight, with plenty of snappy lines to go around (including a great running gag about just who invented Napster) and the musical score...

Wow, what a ride!
There are few genres as enduring in the movie biz as the heist and they don't come any more entertaining than this one. Michael Caine is at his best as a fresh-out-of-jail, small-time crook who decides to pull the job of the century. To achieve this, he sets about finding someone to bankroll the enterprise, in the person of Noel Coward. Coward, a big time syndicate boss is still running his business from jail and after some persuasion, agrees.

Caine then sets about assembling a cast of idiosyncratic no-hopers to carry out his bold plan, among them Benny Hill, an electronics wizard with a fondness for fat women. After much practicing, three teams in Mini Coopers (driven by "chinless wonders") set off for Italy with a bus-full or two of supporters all dressed as soccer fans. The arrival on the scene of the Mafia does little to dampen their enthusiasm and the fun really starts.

The climax of this action/farce is the car chase through the streets, sewers and even the skyline of Turin...

THE ONLY QUESTION IS WHICH ONE I LIKE MORE.
This is the right way to make a remake: fun, clever, and full of great stunts (as opposed to unbelievable CGI effects a la Charlie's Angels).
The old version is pretty good too, I bought it without having seeing it before and it didn't dissapoint. It doesn't always make sense (just what the heck did the Minis climb that huge roof for ?) but then again, who cares ?!?
Great movies which make your DVD player a great reason to exist!

Click to Editorial Reviews